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The two main political parties are noncommittal about their secretive discussions on electoral reforms which are effectively stalled, with the Gozo district still divided and the national threshold undecided.
Last week, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi admitted on TV programme Int X’tahseb? it was difficult for him to predict whether any electoral changes would be agreed upon before the next general election.
Remarking that Gozo is now “deformed” as an electoral district, given that Ghajnsielem now forms part of Malta, Gonzi said: “The electoral system can be changed and should be changed and there are discussions going on. We don’t have discussions everyday but there were contacts in the past weeks and I hope there will be more in the coming weeks. Whether we reach an agreement or not, I don’t want to raise anyone’s expectations, not even mine. If we do reach an agreement it will be another step forward and we would have refined our system even more. But it is difficult to say if it will happen before the next election. … We need the Opposition’s agreement on this.”
And according to the Labour Party’s secretary general, Jason Micallef, discussions are still open but no meetings have been held recently.
“Discussions are ongoing but we haven’t met for a long time,” he said in an interview with MaltaToday.
He said there have already been some “radical changes” agreed upon, including sending voting documents by post, but claimed he was not in a position to state his party’s position on the rest of the pending electoral questions.
“The parliamentary group has not yet decided on this issue, so it would not be prudent on my part to comment,” he said.
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